Namco makes up for Ni No Kuni preorder nightmare with free guides

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Last month, many who preordered Namco Bandai’s highly anticipated JRPG, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Wizard’s Edition had their hopes smashed when they received order cancellation emails from Digital River, the people in charge of handling the preorder for Namco Bandai. The emails were as follows:

Dear Customer,

Digital River would like to express our sincere apologies for the problems that you had ordering NAMCO BANDAI’s Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch™ – Wizard’s Edition. Because of an error in our ordering system, the available inventory of Wizard’s Edition was oversold by mistake.

We’re sorry but your order for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition could not be processed. The credit card on file could not be authorized for payment. As a result, your order has been cancelled.

Unfortunately due to the limited nature of this product, it is no longer available for purchase.

Many other orders were cancelled because Digital River was unable to process certain credit card payments. Customers were furious and left many a negative comment on Namco’s community website. Since then, Namco Bandai has made an attempt to make ammends by offering complimentary Collector’s Editions of the official Ni No Kuni Prima strategy guide to customers who had their orders cancelled. Here’s the email sent out by Namco Bandai of America:

NAMCO BANDAI would like to thank you for your patience while we diligently worked to gather all of the details surrounding the Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition situation.

While it is unfortunate that we will not be able to send you a replacement Wizard’s Edition, you will however be receiving a Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch strategy guide.

The 400-page, hard-bound strategy guide contains a full walk-through of the game, concept-art from Studio Ghibli, interviews with key members of the development team, and exclusive access to unlock the in-game Gold Hurly familiar.

We expect to begin shipping the guides out the week of February 18th. There is absolutely nothing additional you need to do to receive your strategy guide –it will simply be sent directly to you.

Sincerely,

NAMCO BANDAI Games America

The guide also includes access to a golden Hurly familiar DLC promo code, developer interviews, and concept art. While it is not nearly the treasure trove of goodies that was included in the Wizard’s Edition of the game, it’s nice to know that Namco Bandai is willing to make an effort to compensate their fans.

The guides began being sent out on February 18, so if you are one of the customers affected by Digital River’s unfortunate mistake(s), be on the look out for the email from Namco Bandai and your free guide in the mail.